Power of Positivity
You can now take Yale’s most popular class online for free
What is the most popular class at one of the world’s most prestigious schools? At Yale, the most popular course on campus is not in engineering or medicine, but in psychology. Professor Laurie Santos’ “Psychology and the Good Life” course explores what it means to truly live a happy life. Read More...
OPTIMIST VIEW: The World & Power of Positive Emotional Contagion
In the last month, the world has seen an unprecedented change in the way we live daily life and we’ve all been figuring out just how we will persevere, making it through these difficult times. The fear surrounding COVID-19 seems to be spreading faster than the virus itself. Fortunately, we’ve Read More...
Italians are keeping their spirits up by singing from their balconies
Of course we could rely on Italians to create beauty and joy even in the trying times of a global pandemic. Lately, people in the country have started coming out on their balconies and leaning out their windows to join together in song, coordinating the effort by spreading the word via social Read More...
The Power of Positive Thinking
by The Optimist Daily Team A writer at The Optimist Daily recently shared with our Editorial Team about a family celebration for her one year old son. It had been a perfect day. Friends had flown in from all around the country, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, and grandparents all gathered Read More...
Research tells us a positive outlook may be good for your heart
Having a positive mindset doesn’t only benefit your mental health. According to a recent meta-analysis of previous research, having an optimistic mind-set may also reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and early death. This new meta-analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, included 15 Read More...
How Forrest Gump is helping scientists understand human emotion
This week we are celebrating the Power of Positivity. No movie emphasizes the importance of positivity quite like Forrest Gump, so much so that scientists are even using his character to map out our brain emotions. Researchers produced a map of affective emotions called “emotionotopy” after Read More...
Positive thinking sounds great, but what if you’re naturally a bit pessimistic?
At one point or another in life, you’ve probably been encouraged to engage in positive thinking. We understand, however, that positivity can be a bit of a buzzword. That’s why we’re taking a moment to specify what we really mean when we talk about positive thinking. For us, positive Read More...
5 ways to generate more positivity in the online world
Here at the Optimist Daily, our mission is to be a beacon of light in a world that seems to dwell too much on the doom and gloom. We don’t bring you stories about solutions and positive development because of some naive conception of how our world is. Rather, we bring you these stories because we Read More...
A new study finds the scientific importance of actively cultivating positivity at work
The old saying goes “fake it 'til you make it,” but when it comes to positivity at work, research shows that cultivating the real deal is better than putting on a brave face. The research, from the University of Arizona, found that workers who actively try and cultivate a more positive work Read More...
4 Strategies for making positive changes stick
It’s the end of January, so how are those New Year’s resolutions going? Are you achieving your goals? If not, don’t beat yourself up about it, we have a list of strategies on how to make positive habits stick to get you back on track with your resolutions for 2020. Wendy Wood, a psychology Read More...